by CALINE MALEK -- arabnews -- BEIRUT: Volunteers from across Lebanon have flocked to support Basecamp, an initiative offering everything from food deliveries to garbage collection, from home repairs to mental health support. Under the slogan “Together, we’re stronger; we are the real government,” Basecamp unites Embrace (Lebanon’s national mental health hotline), housing project Baytna Baytak, social justice movement Minteshreen and citizens’ organization Muwatin Lebnene. “We came up with the idea of providing alternative housing for medical heroes and Red Cross members who were in touch with COVID-19 patients,” said Bouchra Boustany of Baytna Baytak. “It was launched among people who met during the revolution (in Oct. 2019), and we organized alternative housing for 450 people.”

Following the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion, the hotlines reopened and members hit the streets once again to assist those affected. Under the slogan The phone started ringing, and I realized people didn’t want to leave their houses because they were mainly elderly, and most of them have been here for ages,” Boustany said. “We are now (providing) alternative housing to around 20 percent of applicants, and 80 percent are only asking for house repairs.” So far, Baytna Baytak has rehabilitated 225 homes, with 127 in progress and another 132 waiting on finance. “We have a double mission because COVID-19 is growing, so now we are receiving calls from medical heroes. Our aim is to reach 1,000 houses within Beirut alone,” Boustany said. And reaching those who are living alone is a high priority. “Those people are really in pain, if not physically, then psychologically. They’re destroyed. What I am doing is part of a therapy — we just can’t let them down, and it’s a struggle because we don’t have any kind of hope that anything is going to be ok.”

From Fionn Shiner and Maria Lozano -- ACN News -- One hundred days after the explosion in Beirut on 4th August, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has revealed details of its aid programme which will enable church bells to ring again across the Lebanese capital. The charity announced that its €5million (£4.53m) aid package will be spent mainly on reconstruction, with churches, a cathedral and a convent among the buildings being repaired. The explosion was triggered by 750 tons of ammonium nitrate, creating one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, causing more than 200 deaths, 6,500 injuries and leaving 300,000 people homeless. Among the seven projects confirmed by ACN - with a further 19 being considered - is St Saviour's Melkite Greek Catholic church which lost its roof in the explosion.

Parish priest Father Nicolas Riachy told ACN: "We want to give hope for those who still want to remain here. Our mission is to bring light into the darkness through which we are living. There is no Christianity without the Cross. Christ is our example. It is not easy to be Christians, but many of our people are still very much aware that this land is Holy Land and we cannot abandon it." Father Riachy stressed that the roof repairs were vital before the harsh winter months: "If the first of the winter rains arrive, they will spoil everything.

by AFP — BEIRUT — An adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron met top Lebanese officials on Thursday in a desperate bid …

by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: Lebanon is expected to head into a total lockdown again as the health sector buckles under the pressure of soaring coronavirus cases, with the head of a doctors’ syndicate warning that the spread of the disease among medical professionals meant there would be nobody left to treat infected patients. The Supreme Defense Council meets on Tuesday, under the chairmanship of President Michel Aoun, to take decisive action about a lockdown in light of increasing complaints from doctors and hospital owners that their resources have been depleted. On Monday, the total number of people infected with the virus was more than 95,000, with daily rates sometimes exceeding 2,000, while the number of deaths has reached 725. The number of COVID-19 cases during the first week of November alone hit 13,000, while the total number of cases in October exceeded 42,000 cases, the highest number recorded since the virus was first detected in Lebanon in February. Sharaf Abu Sharaf, who heads the Doctors’ Syndicate, warned: “Lebanon’s continued abandonment of taking strict measures to contain the spread of coronavirus will mean that no one will remain to treat those infected with the virus in hospitals.” He said 17 doctors were in intensive care units, three doctors had died, and that 100 doctors were under home quarantine.

Mirna Doumit, who is head of the Order of Nurses in Lebanon, said the number of people infected in the medical and nursing body had reached 1,500. On Monday it was announced that the director of Tripoli Governmental Hospital was infected with coronavirus. Hariri Governmental Hospital specializes in receiving coronavirus cases. Its general director, Dr. Firas Al-Abyad, said that one infection in every 125 in Lebanon led to death and that this figure rose to one in 10 among the elderly. “Lebanon will enter a new phase of complete lockdown,” he predicted. “Without a complete lockdown, the economic situation will worsen in light of the spread of the virus.” But the idea of a complete lockdown for two weeks, or even a month, has provoked a negative reaction among the Lebanese public. The consensus is that a lockdown is useless without a clear strategy for the next steps.